Homemade Wholemeal Bead

Makes a 20cm round bread

150g bread flour (I used 100g plain flour)

150g wholemeal flour (I used 200g organic wholemeal flour)
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
10g butter, softened
170ml water

Method:

From original recipe (for breadmaker machine):

1. Place bread flour and wholemeal flour in a mixing bowl and stir with a whisk to combine. I did this by measuring both types of flour in a plastic bag and then give a few shakes to mix the flours.


2. Place all ingredients (according to the sequence as stated in your bread machine manual) in the bread pan and set the machine to the Dough setting. You can either leave the dough to proof in the machine, or let it proof in room temperature. If you are proofing the dough in room temperature, place it in a big mixing bowl, and cover it with cling wrap. Let is rise till double in bulk, takes about 1 hour.


3. Remove dough from bread machine/mixing bowl. Knock out the dough and give a few light kneading. Gently flatten the dough and shape into a smooth ball. Place dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a damp towel or plastic bag and let it proof for another 30mins. Note that this time round, instead of cling wrap, you should cover the dough with plastic bag, as the cling wrap may stick onto the dough and prevent it from rising properly.


4. Preheat oven to 180 degC. Dust with some wholemeal flour and make 2 long slits on the dough with a sharp knife. Bake for 30mins until the crust turns golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.

Vanilla cupcakes

From Planet Cakes Cupcakes

Makes 12-15 cupcakes

175g unsalted butter, room temperature

165g caster sugar

1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract

2 eggs, room temperature

110g self-raising flour

150g plain flour

160ml buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line the holes of a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a medium bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Beat the eggs into the butter mixture one at a time. Add half the sifted flours and half the buttermilk, and mix on low speed until just combined. Mix in the remaining flours and buttermilk. 

Divide the mixture evenly among the paper cases. Gently smooth the tops (this will help the cupcakes to rise evenly). 

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow cupcakes to stand for 5 minutes in tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool. 

Read complete post here. 

Lotus Root Soup 莲藕汤

Serves 4

250g pork rib (or simply 1 pack from NTUC supermarket)
1 dried cuttlefish or octopus*
1 honey date/ 蜜枣 (or add a few more red dates if you do not have this)
5 red dates/ 红枣
A handful of dried scallops 干贝
(about 6 big ones or 10 small ones. They are optional, but add great flavour to the soup)
1.5-1.8 litres of water (in a big pot, for soup)
0.5 litres of water (in a small pot, for blanching pork ribs)

250g lotus root/ 莲藕*



1. Prepare 2 pots. One bigger pot with 1.5L of water and the other smaller pot with 0.5L. Turn on both flames and wait for water to boil.


2. When water in the smaller pot has boiled, put in the pork ribs and let them boil for 5 minutes. This cleans out the "yucky" stuff in the pork and removes the porky smell, so that your soup will be nice and clear later on.
At the end of 5 minutes, the bigger pot should have come to boil too. Take out the pork ribs and transfer them into the big pot. Discard the water used for blanching the pork.

Perfect (and easy) Mashed Potatoes

From Grandma's Best Recipes - Traditional comfort food just like Grandma used to make

Serves 4

900g/ 2 lb floury potatoes e.g. King Edwards, Maris Piper or Desiree (honestly I have no idea what these names are...there's only russet in my supermarket, so I used those)
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp hot milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel the potatoes, placing them in cold water as you prepare the others to prevent them from going brown.

2. Cut the potatoes into even-sized chunks and cook in a large saucepan of boiling salted water over a medium heat, covered, for 20-25 minutes until they are tender. Test with the point of a knife, but make sure you test right in the middle to avoid lumps.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and drain the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the hot pan and mash with a potato masher until smooth.

4. Add the butter and continue to mash until it is all mixed in, then add the milk (it is better hot because the potatoes absorb it more quickly to produce a creamier mash).

5. Taste the mashed potatoes and season with salt and pepper as necessary. Serve at once.


Well, you can add a sprinkle of your favourite herbs or a little gravy if you like. I did not, since I'm the lazy one. Check out the rest of my blog post here.

Green Tea Souffle Swiss Roll

Recipe from Okashi by Keiko Ishida
Makes one 28cm x 28cm (11") flat square pan

1 egg
3 egg yolks
35g unsalted butter
60g pastry flour, sifted twice (I used cake flour)
60g milk
3 egg whites
85g castor sugar
1tsp vanilla extract (optional if using green tea powder)
5g green tea powder, sifted together with the flour (omit if making vanilla swiss roll)

Filling:
120g red bean paste
100g (single) whipping cream
2tsp icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line cake pan with parchment paper.

2. Combine egg, egg yolks and vanilla extract in a small bowl and beat lightly. Set aside.

3. Place butter in a small saucepan and heat gently until melted. Add flour to melted butter and cook through. Transfer butter-flour mixture into a bowl, then add egg mixture from (2), a little at a time. With a spatula, mix into a smooth batter. Add milk and mix to incorporate. Strain batter and set aside.